Website policy

We provide links to articles we think will be of interest to our supporters, informing them of issues, events, debates and the wider context of the conflict. We are sympathetic to much of the content of what we post, but not to everything. The fact that something has been linked to here does not necessarily mean that we endorse the views expressed in it._____________________

BSST

BSST is the leading charity focusing on small-scale grass roots cross community, anti poverty and humanitarian projects in Israel/Palestine
____________________

Times ad in support of the Goldstone Report, 1st December 2009

On 1st December a full-page advert appeared in the Times supported by 565 individual signatories and the following groups: Independent Jewish Voices, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, the Jewish Forum for Justice and Human Rights, the Jewish Socialists’ Group, Jewish Writers Against the Occupation and Scottish Jews for a Just Peace. Download the pdf here. The text and list of signatories is given below.

See the earlier, and very fair, Jewish Chronicle report posted on this website. And see the churlish Haaretz article by Cnaan Liphshiz. Indeed, after a complaint to Ha’aretz by Vivien Lichtenstein, it turns out that “The omission of reactions from the signatories in the article was not Cnaan’s failure. His original story included two reactions – one from Jacqueline Rose of Independent Jewish Voices and the other from Dan Judelson from Jews for Justice for Palestinians. Unfortunately, due to space limitations in the print edition of Haaretz, an editor cut the bottom three paragraphs of the piece as he was laying out the page. This was a rash move, made under great time pressure, but nevertheless reflecting very poor judgment. It did indeed throw the balance of the article, and it fell below both your – and our – expectations.
We do of course endeavour not to make such mistakes due to time (or any other) pressures. We have amended the on-line version of the article [restoring its three final paras].”

Dear Prime Minister,

We appreciate your Government’s stated intention to build bridges with the Jewish community in the light of responses to the Goldstone report. To achieve this, it is vital for you to recognise that British Jews do not speak with one voice on this matter.

We welcome the Goldstone Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza conflict as a key document in the upholding of international law in situations of violent conflict, and regret your Government’s failure to endorse the Report and its recommendations at the United Nations General Assembly.

We condemn the vilification of Richard Goldstone, an internationally acclaimed jurist who has made a substantial contribution worldwide to the development and maintenance of international humanitarian law, and

We note that the preparation of the Report was severely hampered by the refusal of the Israeli authorities to respond to reasonable enquiries or to facilitate access by the mission to Gaza or the West Bank and that it was only Egypt’s assistance which eventually allowed the Mission to gain access to Gaza.

We further note that the Report unequivocally condemns not just Israel’s devastation of Gaza but also Hamas’s indiscriminate rocket attacks against Israeli neighbourhoods and does not in any way deny Israel its right to legitimate self-defence. We fully support its recommendation that both parties conduct full investigations into the allegations of war crimes in the Report.

We believe Israel cannot afford, nor should it wish, to exempt itself from the scrutiny of the international community on these matters. We consider that it is the attempt to do so, rather than the Goldstone Report, that is damaging Israel. We therefore urge you to endorse the Report at the next available opportunity.